Agenda item

Ruth Fletcher-Brown, Public Health Specialist, and Rachel Copley, Public Health Practitioner, to present the refreshed Action Plan

Ruth Fletcher-Brown, Public Health Specialist, and Rachel Copley, Public Health Practitioner, presented the refreshed Loneliness Action Plan.

 

Rotherham’s first Loneliness Action Plan was developed in 2020 having had input from Health and Wellbeing Board partners.  The Plan was refreshed in 2023 for a further 3 years.  With the current plan ending in 2025, work had commenced with partner organisations to reflect on the work that had been achieved.  The following powerpoint presentation was provided on the 2026-30 Action Plan:-

 

Rotherham Loneliness Action Plan 2026-230

Our Vision:  Rotherham residents of all ages and backgrounds feel connected to others and the community around them

 

History of Rotherham Loneliness Action plans

·        The first Rotherham Loneliness Action Plan was implemented in 2020 following a workshop event with key stakeholders in 2019.  This followed on from the national strategy “A Connected Society” published in 2018

·        2020-2022 Action Plan.  Completed actions included started rollout of Making Every Contact Count training, assisted Link Workers in understanding their local communities and the assets available which supported good social connections, inclusion of loneliness as a theme in the Be Well at Work Scheme and promotion of GISMO to people who lived and worked in Rotherham

·        2023-25 Action Plan.  Completed actions included increased community hub capacity including Warm Welcome sites, ‘Spot the Signs’ campaigns used to raise awareness of the safeguarding risks linked to loneliness, updated Loneliness JSNA section including personal quotes, conducted several focus groups across the Borough about loneliness and mental health, inclusion of loneliness questions in Tenant Health Check, expansion of Loneliness MECC training throughout library venues, evaluation from COVID funded projects for the over 55s and Holding Difficult Conversations training delivered to frontline partners 6^th October 2022 to help them tackle the drivers of hate

 

Governance of Loneliness Action Plan

-        The implementation of the 2026-2030 Action Plan would be overseen by the Better Mental Health for All Group.  These meetings were chaired by Public Health and had representation from Health and Wellbeing partners.  The multi-agency group met bi-monthly and was tasked to implement the Plan and the Better Mental Health for All Action Plan.  Progress against the action plan would be reported to the Mental Health and Learning Disability Transformation Group, a sub-group of the Rotherham Place Plan Board.  Annual updates would be given to the Rotherham Health and Wellbeing Board.

 

The partners represented on the Better Mental Health for All Group included:-

·        Adult Health and Care Network

·        Age UK Rotherham

·        Children, Young People and Families Consortium

·        Crossroads

·        Healthwatch Rotherham

·        NHS South Yorkshire

·        RDaSH (mental health provider)

·        Rotherham NHS Foundation Hospital Trust

·        RMBC – Adult Care, Housing and Public Health (including Neighbourhoods)

·        RMBC – Children and Young People’s Services

·        RMBC – Communications

·        RMBC – Culture, Sport and Tourism Service, Regeneration and Environment

·        Rotherham Federation

·        Rotherham United Community Trust

·        South Yorkshire Police

·        Voluntary Action Rotherham

 

Why is Loneliness a Public Health Issue?

·        Mental Health impacts – increased risk of Dementia and cognitive decline, links to poor mental health and suicide

·        Physical Health impacts – increased risk of CVD and Stroke, increased risk taking behaviour

·        Community impacts – safeguarding risks to vulnerable people e.g. cuckooing/scams, absenteeism and presenteeism

 

National Data

·        7% of people reported feeling lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’.  This increased to 9% for those aged 16-29 and 10% reporting chronic loneliness in Yorkshire

·        Chronic loneliness was the persistent feeling of being alone and disconnected from others over an extended period even when surrounded by people

·        Key cohorts of concern

·        13% in disabled adults (4% in non-disabled)

·        12% in unemployed adults (5% in employed)

·        17% in Council properties (5% in owner occupied and 9% in private rented)

·        23% in single parents (5% with 2 adults and child/ren, 12% single adults and 7% with 2 adults and no children)

 

Local Data

School Lifestyle Survey

·        16.6% of Y7s and 19.8% of Y10s reported chronic loneliness

RMBC Data

·        Long term unemployment ranged from 1% to 14%

·        People over 65 who lived alone ranged from 24% to 40%

·        Social renting was as high as 46% in some MSOAs

 

What was Loneliness?

·        Loneliness had different meanings to different people

·        General definition of “a subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship.  It happens when we have a mismatch between the quantity and quality of social relationships that we have and those that we want”

·        Focus groups were carried out across the Borough including veterans, carers and adults with neurodiverse conditions

 

What are the effects of Loneliness

·        People can start skipping meals

·        Drink, drugs, gambling

·        Personal hygiene deteriorates

·        Might be good physically but not so mentally and emotionally

·        Can affect people’s decisions and make impulsive decisions

 

What are the causes of Loneliness

·        Bereavement

·        Disability and ill health

·        Bullying and discrimination

·        Financial and life pressures

·        Safety

 

Loneliness Stakeholder Workshop – 4^th November, 2025

·        What is working well

Great voluntary sector

Trusted support services

Benefits of groups

Great partnership working

·        Key areas of concern

Long term funding

Social awareness of loneliness as a health issue

Structural issues e.g. transport, housing

Level of responsibility given to volunteers

High levels of loneliness in specific groups and deprived areas

Cultural sensitivity

Groups and partners being missed

Continual rising of expectations

Successful projects being defunded

Lack of understanding and acknowledgement of

 

Action Plan Aims

·        Aim 1: Make loneliness everyone’s responsibility

·        Champion Five Ways to Wellbeing across all initiatives to promote positive mental health and social engagement

·        Deliver Making Every Contact Count (MECC) training to frontline staff

·        Deliver ‘train the trainer’ MECC

·        Continue to work closely with RMBC teams including Neighbourhoods, Commissioning and Culture, Sport and Tourism

·        Champion the Be Well at Work Scheme and share best practice to tackle loneliness and isolation within businesses to create a healthier workforce

 

·        Aim 2:  Connecting people to each other and their community

·        Maintain and promote GISMO as a key signposting resource

·        Promote the VAR e-bulletin

·        Recruitment and ongoing support for volunteers

·        Use comms messaging to promote wellbeing support such as RotherHive and Say Yes campaigns

·        Make use of existing networks, partnerships and newsletters to regularly promote new opportunities for people to make meaningful connections

·        Promote resident-led activities and community hubs

·        Promote Library Services and the support and groups they offered

·        Promote organisations which support people to get digitally connected e.g. Age UK, CARD, RotherFed, Libraries

 

-        Aim 3:  Expand and use local data to guide action

·        Maintain and regularly update the loneliness section of the JSNA so current data could inform decision making

·        Conduct additional loneliness focus groups to strengthen the community voice

·        Refresh MECC training materials to include the latest evidence and data

·        Analyse and publish findings from focus group research sharing with relevant partners to inform action

·        Promote the loneliness guide and measures to local partners

·        Share best practice including Living Experience with other Rotherham partners

·        Using data to support future funding bids

 

Action Plan Monitoring and Wider Discussions

-        During both focus groups and stakeholder discussions, several topics were mentioned as barriers to reducing loneliness which needed to be advocated for by the Better Mental Health for All Group.  The main barriers were digital inclusion and transport issues

-        Key Monitoring Metrics – school lifestyle survey data, Public Health Outcomes Framework, Community Life Survey and Loneliness Guide and Measures results

 

Discussion ensued on the presentation with the following issues raised/clarified:-

 

-        The issue of social media and the possible effects on young people required discussions across the board to ascertain a position being mindful both of the positive and negatives of social media and working with young people to gain their understanding of the role it played in their lives

-        There was evidence that those with neurodiversity felt loneliness.  Work had taken place with SpeakUp but more could be done with young people

-        Covid-19 had significantly impacted some vulnerable groups at that point of their development

-        The work around digital inclusion was trying to draw out that there were very clear safeguarding risks for children and young people as well as adults who were lonely.  This issue needed to be included in the training and emphasise that not everyone online was their friend and ensure they were a “safe” person

-        A diagnosis of chronic illness could acerbate despair and loneliness.  There was some existing work taking place that connected health care.  The data was being pulled together and evaluated

-        The South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance was holding an event focussing on 16-24 year olds looking at youth and mental health. Rush House was the delivery partner. There would be peer evaluators for the young people to talk about the approach to support.  One approach did not work for every young person

-        The causes of loneliness did not look significantly different to those identified 20 years ago, however, the context in which people experienced those causes had changed.  Front line commissioning practitioners would say that the complexity was expressed in different ways

-        Loneliness was a banner that brought many physical and medical conditions together

-        People did not need a lot of connections but did need meaningful connection

-        Addressing loneliness was a corporate response

-        The focus group had interviewed people aged 20+ up to 97 years; children would be the next stage  A recent presentation at a national group for the first time had seen the impact of housing conditions and fuel poverty on young people coming through 

-        Transition for young people was really challenging all the way through to employment.  CYPS carried out a lot of work with young people in an attempt to avoid them becoming NEET and go into the appropriate pathways and there were various new initiatives around that.  There would be a particular focus on transition from Y5 through to Y8 as it appeared that was where the most challenges were to issues such as health conditions, development and healthy weight.  Children not attending school impacted significantly on their emotional health and wellbeing, not developing appropriate peer groups and friends that would help take them through

-        There was also a gap of young people not in education either through non-attendance or being home educated and not necessarily having peer connection

-        The statistics regarding the feeling of loneliness in Council properties was the national picture but could be extrapolated for a similar picture in Rotherham

 

Resolved:-  (1)  That the vision and delivery mechanisms addressing loneliness and promoting connectedness across Rotherham be supported.

 

(2)  That Health and Wellbeing Board members attend and contribute to the Better Mental Health for All Group which will oversee the delivery of actions within the Loneliness Action Plan.

 

(3)  That the Board receive annual progress updates.